Restoration and Research Fellowships

September 18, 2024

Chairman Anne Baldwin, The Garden Club of Alexandria

Fall 2018

The committee was on the road September 5-6 with visits to Bacon’s Castle, the Rolfe-Warren House at Smith’s Fort Plantation, the new garden site at William & Mary and Bruton Parish Church. Landscape Architect Will Rieley provided updates to the committee at their September meeting:

Poe Museum: Waiting for cooler weather in November to plant here in one of the smaller areas called Maggie’s Garden.

Poplar Forest: Soon after our summer board meeting, the chief archaeologist, Jack Gary, left for a new position as Colonial Williamsburg’s chief archaeologist. While it is disappointing not to have him in charge of the uncovering of Jefferson’s original carriage circle, we are delighted that Jack has now joined the supporting professionals on our GCV Fellowship Committee and will continue to be involved with us. We anticipate a viewing of the original circle on October 24. After that, the circle will be sealed and preserved for posterity, and then a new surface will be installed. Will should be showing this in his presentation at the meeting. Also, this fall, the three oval beds of roses that Jefferson loved will be planted. Once this project is complete, the façade of the house will look the way Thomas Jefferson designed it, for the first time since he owned Poplar Forest.

Point of Honor: Waiting for cooler weather to install and plant the new garden behind the house here. This hopefully will be completed before the year’s end. This project had been voted on in 2015, but has been delayed for various reasons. The cost of plants and the work has increased since then, and the committee voted additional funds for this project.

Stratford Hall; Will did a very informative presentation at the Symposium on the project here. The paths and brickwork were completed this summer. We look forward to the plants going in, probably in November. The committee also voted for additional funds here for the trellis fencing and plantings. This project, too, was delayed with the change in Directors, and the costs had risen.

William & Mary: We enjoyed standing on the site of this garden in September with Will showing us all of the detailed plans involved in making this a reality. William & Mary is now involved in their part of the project, which requires moving many utilities and preparing the site. Will should be showing this also at the BOG.

In addition to these larger projects, the committee continues to review each of our properties at our meetings and asses the needs of each. Here are the ones that we voted on in September:

Belmont: Maintaining boxwood in good condition is going to be an ongoing issue for all of our properties. There are four triangular beds here, and the boxwoods need to be replaced. The committee voted to do this with a variety that has been suggested by the Saunders Bros. Nursery as disease resistant.

Kent-Valentine House: The committee voted to plant a new dogwood in honor of our dear Margaret Bemiss, who has done so much to support us. In addition, Will and Jody Branch looked over the entire KVH landscape, with a goal of making our GCV headquarters look sparkling for a year of Centennial celebration.

October 24, 2018 Carriage Turnaround Uncovered.

Poplar Forest hosted a visit on October 24 to view the Thomas Jefferson surface for the carriage turnaround. Guests were greeted by President and CEO Jeff Nichols who provided an overview of the work. Acting Director of Archaeology Eric Proebstring explained the important archaeological work that has been going on for years. Guests were able to see the beautiful allées of paper mulberry trees on the side of the house planted earlier by the GCV, and the clumps of trees also planted by the GCV in front of the house. After a delicious lunch in the Visitors Center, guests were treated to a tour of the house by Director of Architectural Restoration Travis McDonald. It was a very special day, and is an example of the kind of one-day opportunity we would like to offer at GCV sites during the Centennial.

January 9, 2019

The committee met at the Kent-Valentine House on January 9, 2019. Will provided updates to the following projects in progress:

Poe Museum: Each of the gardens behind and around this historic building in Richmond, that now serves as the Poe Museum, is based on a poem or story written by Poe. The first one we did is called the Enchanted Garden and is now used as the site of events and weddings. Work this fall in adding plants was done in Maggie’s Garden and also the Ragged Mountain garden. The committee plans to visit here in March.

Poplar Forest: The work by archaeologists to uncover by hand the entire surface of the Thomas Jefferson carriage turnaround in front of the house was completed in October. Additional archaeological work on this site is being done now, while the surface is uncovered. Meanwhile, about a mile away, a rock crushing machine is crushing the rocks that will be used for the new surface. We are excited that these rocks come from similar fields where Thomas Jefferson’s men would have gathered rocks to use for the original surface and are from the same vein of rock that was used then. Once the winter weather is behind us, Will says that the new surface will be applied this spring.

Point of Honor: Work began here in November to do the walkways and hardscape for a new garden behind the house. Once that is complete, planting should begin this spring.

Stratford Hall: I was excited to learn that this year’s BOG will bring us all to Stratford Hall, as our committee knows you will be as delighted as we are with this new garden. The pathways and brickwork were completed in the summer. Then, trees, shrubs, and fencing for espaliered fruit trees were installed this fall. Additional planting plus annuals planted by Stratford Hall will be done this spring. It will be beautiful for viewing this October.

William & Mary: Again, this new garden is being done in collaboration with William & Mary and is based on two plans by Charles Gillette that were never completed. This new garden will honor Taylor and Helen Reveley. Currently, the site preparation is being done by William & Mary to meet the plans drawn up by Will. We will look forward to this being complete sometime in the spring, and then our work of installing the garden will begin.

In addition to these new projects, the committee approved updates to the following properties:

Bacon’s Castle: Preservation Virginia has asked us to look at the possibility of adding the three-sided turf seats that originally existed in the garden. Will will visit to look at this and what would be involved and the costs.

Centre Hill: Although we normally do not do tree maintenance, we have voted to take down a diseased tree at this site. The house is owned by the bankrupt City of Petersburg and is maintained by The Petersburg Garden Club. The tree is a hazard, and we are concerned about the safety of neighbors and visitors.

Hollins University: We voted to do maintenance on the two bridges installed by the GCV. The posts should not have deteriorated like they have, and we feel it is our responsibility to correct this. While Will is there, he will be looking at additional plantings that we will consider at our next meeting.

Kent-Valentine House: We are very excited to have Will work up a proposal for plantings and brick repair to be done here in advance of our Centennial celebration.

Lee Hall: Will will be visiting here to look at a problem they are having with the walkways.

Mary Washington House: They are preparing for a big anniversary celebration here at the house. They have asked for Will’s assistance with their gates.

Oatlands: The current rose garden is no longer receiving enough sun for the roses. The gardener would like Will to visit and consider the possibility of moving the roses to another location and installing a new shade-tolerant garden in this site.

Wilton: Sadly, the boxwood blight has killed all the boxwood installed in the original design by Arthur Shurcliff in the first work done here by the GCV in 1939. Will will be working up a design for new plantings here. The committee plans to visit in March.

January 10, 2019 Maintenance Workshop

The Restoration Committee’s Maintenance Workshop was held on January 10, 2019. Will discussed the GCV’s ongoing relationship with Restoration properties and emphasized what is expected of them in maintaining the GCV gift. The day featured three speakers. Curator of Plants at Monticello Peggy Cornett spoke on historic plants; Peter Deahl gave a lively talk about pruning trees and shrubs; and Dan Gregg of Grelen Nursery spoke about plant maintenance, especially in the first year. Elaine Burden also presented the Restoration Committee’s slide presentation.

British Normandy Memorial Gift of $20,000

The Garden Club of Virginia sent a $1000 gift in 1940 from Restoration funds to England in support of civilian relief during WWII. And, in 1941, GCV sent $20,000 for relief in Britain — the entire proceeds of HGW for that year. Today, $20,000 is the equivalent of $357,000. Lady Astor, the first woman elected to the British Parliament, facilitated these efforts. A motion from the Restoration Committee to send $20,000 from Restoration funds to support landscaping at the British Normandy Memorial was approved by the board and then by GCV membership.

Summer and Fall 2019

Point of Honor – This project has been completed, and the dedication is planned for September 19. Invitations will be sent to board members.

Stratford Hall – The ladies of Stratford Hall are very grateful for the work the GCV has completed. The dedication is planned in approximately one year.

Poe Museum – No further work will be completed until the other major projects are finished.

Poplar Forest – This project is close to completion. The carriage circle has been preserved, and a cutout section will allow visitors to view the original surface.

William & Mary – The contractor for Poplar Forest will be performing the work at this site. Anne reviewed the background of this project. This is a joint project with the College of William & Mary. The college has been working on their responsibilities to the project, and they are close to completion. The bids on this project came in higher than expected. Following much discussion, a motion to approve additional expenditures on the project was approved.

Restoration Fellowships

View Fellowship Research Archives

2018 Rudy J. Favretti Fellow Mary Fesak, who researched Sherwood Forest and 2018 William D. Rieley Fellow Penelope Cottrell-Crawford, who studied Shirley Plantation, presented their work in August 2018.

The Research Fellowship Subcommittee met on October 29 at the Kent-Valentine House and selected two 2019 fellowship sites:

The 2019  Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship site, Farmington, was built in 1803-04 by George Divers, a great friend of Thomas Jefferson. It was the very essence of a robust plantation life of farming, cultivation of gardens, and congeniality among neighboring plantations. A corporation purchased the property in 1927 and transformed it into the Farmington Country Club.

Dania Khlaifat, the 2019 Rudy J. Favretti Fellow, will be researching the historic landscape at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville.

The 2019 William D. Rieley Fellowship site, Mount Airy, has been held in the same family since the mid-1600s. The mid-1700s historic house was built by John Tayloe II on a ridge overlooking the Rappahannock River Valley. The house is surrounded by 1400 acres that includes the remains of a once grand terraced garden. John Tayloe Emery, his wife, Catherine, and two young sons live in the house today maintaining the integrity of this historic treasure.

The William D. Rieley Fellow, Hayden Hammons, will be researching Mount Airy in Warsaw.